


Before the Raid

by chaos_monkey



Category: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Accidental Napping, Canon Compliant, Extended Scene, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, Sweet, feelings without plot, i guess?, i honestly don't know how to tag this, just a touch of pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 15:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18831343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaos_monkey/pseuds/chaos_monkey
Summary: After meeting with the Afe clan chief Joko about the land dispute, Eli and Thrawn have to wait awhile for the human raiders to actually show up.





	Before the Raid

“ … They want the Afes to _kill_ someone?” Eli asked incredulously as he and Thrawn walked back through the field towards the clan meetinghouse. “Just so they’ll have a better case to present to Coruscant?”

“Partly,” Thrawn said. “More significant is the fact that the Afe ethos will cause them to recoil in shame and guilt, which will disadvantage them in future negotiations.”

“Which is why you advised Joko to stay on this side of the border,” Eli said, nodding in dawning understanding. “Even if they’re not trying to kill, they might be manipulated into doing so. You got all that from the artwork in the meetinghouse?” he asked, looking at the conical structure ahead.

“I did.”

“I wish you could teach me how to do that,” Eli said ruefully. He never managed to gain the insight from art and culture that Thrawn did, though it wasn’t for lack of trying on his part. “If we’re expecting company, shouldn’t we bring down a few more navy troopers or stormtroopers?” he asked as they reached the meetinghouse entrance, suddenly struck by how isolated he and Thrawn were now that their entire stormtrooper escort had left with the Afe.

“The two of us will be sufficient,” Thrawn replied, calm certainty in his voice. “They won’t expect trouble.”

Eli smiled as they entered the dim interior of the meetinghouse, the sun already beginning to drop towards the horizon outside.

“No, I daresay they won’t,” he agreed. They would have the element of surprise on their side, after all.

 

* * *

 

Eli and Thrawn settled in to wait for nightfall, for the raiders to show up under cover of darkness. And hopefully without suspecting anyone was lying in wait for them.

The Cyphari apparently had no use for chairs, benches, or seats of any kind, and the meetinghouse was empty but for the two of them and the Afe art worked into the interior walls around them. They were sitting on the floor and leaning back against the wall nearest the doorway in silence, Thrawn cross-legged and Eli with his elbows resting on bent knees.

Eli let his gaze wander around the meetinghouse again, wondering just what it was that Thrawn saw in the designs running over the walls that he couldn’t. He thought about asking Thrawn to explain it to him, while there was still enough light to make out most of the details, but a sideways glance showed that he was already in his meditation pose, eyes closed, back straight against the wall behind him and his hands resting on his knees.

Deciding not to bother him, Eli sighed quietly and leaned his head back against the wall, letting his own eyes shut. It had been a long, long day, and it wasn’t over yet. Thrawn was confident that the raiders would follow their normal pattern and wouldn’t be showing up for hours yet, so Eli figured it was safe to just… rest his eyes a little.

The floor was hard under him, but smooth, and Eli started slowly drifting off, his mind wandering aimlessly, impressions filtering through the haze of not-quite-sleep in bits and pieces. Since joining the Navy, Eli had quickly picked up the ability to doze off and get a little shut-eye when he had the chance, even when he wasn’t in the most comfortable of positions for sleeping.

Thrawn’s steady, deep breathing next to him was hypnotic, and the thought meandered through Eli’s sleepy brain that he missed that sound… he had gotten so used to sharing a room with Thrawn, first at the Academy and then on the Blood Crow, that he’d had trouble sleeping for awhile as he got used to the too-still silence of his private quarters aboard the Thunder Wasp. Eli wondered if Thrawn ever missed sharing a room with him, too. Probably not, he thought, and then his mind slipped away from that thought before he could really notice that it made him a little sad.

The wall behind him was curved ever so slightly forward, and Eli was vaguely aware that his chin kept falling forward onto his chest. He was also getting chilled… right, because the sun was going down and there was no actual door in the meetinghouse…

Eli kept drifting, dozing, in and out of consciousness, occasionally shifting to get more comfortable without ever really waking up.

He could really use a blanket… maybe a pillow… but there was a warmth beside him and it was nice… solid and comforting. Eli cuddled up to that warmth with a contented sigh.

He relaxed, safe against the steady, rhythmic breathing, drifting… letting it draw him deeper… floating down into peaceful slumber.

 

* * *

 

Eli drifted briefly up out of a dream about… something… happy. He hummed contentedly under the gentle hand stroking his hair and nuzzled deeper into his warm pillow. He knew he should open his eyes, but… he didn’t know why. Whatever it was could probably wait… just a bit longer. He drifted away again.

 

* * *

 

Eli groaned as he swam into wakefulness.

He blinked slowly, trying to get his bearings.

It was dark except for the soft red glow coming from somewhere above him.

His hip was sore against the hard ground of…

The meetinghouse. The floor. Right.

He was lying down, curled on his side, but… hadn’t he been sitting against the wall?

Eli blinked again, and as his vision finally came into focus in the dim red light he suddenly realized that the warm thing he had his hand on, that he was slowly raising his head up off of, was Commander Thrawn’s lap.

Mortified, Eli sat bolt upright, narrowly missing smacking his head against Thrawn’s elbow as he did. The commander was still sitting in the same pose he had been when Eli had fallen asleep; legs crossed, hands on his knees. His eyes were open now, though, the red glow the only light in the darkness.

“Excellent timing, Ensign,” Thrawn said quietly, gracefully climbing to his feet. “We should begin keeping watch. I was about to wake you.”

“I - I’m sorry, sir,” Eli said, flustered. He wiped a hand across his mouth when Thrawn wasn’t looking, hoping he hadn’t _drooled_ on his commanding officer. Hadn’t drooled in his _lap._ “I, uh, didn’t mean to fall asleep. Um. Like that,” he added, wincing.

Eli could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks; was first relieved that at least Thrawn wouldn’t be able to see his blush in the dark; and then blushed harder as the red gaze turned to him and he remembered that Thrawn could see the heat anyway.

“You did not disturb my meditation, and the rest was undoubtedly good for us both,” Thrawn said as he moved towards the door.

Of course, Eli couldn’t see Thrawn’s expression at all in the dark interior of the meetinghouse, but he thought maybe he heard wry amusement in the commander’s tone, and he relaxed slightly. Pushing his embarrassment aside, for the moment at least, Eli slipped over to the other side of the doorway.

As they waited, scanning the starlit fields through their electrobinoculars, Eli suddenly remembered a… sensation… a feeling of comfort, and a soft touch over his hair. A strange quiet ache blossomed in his chest, and he lowered his binoculars, glancing across the doorway at Thrawn. Surely it hadn’t… been real?

Eli gave himself a little shake. Of course not. It had only been a dream. He put the thought firmly out of his mind and focused on keeping watch for the raiders.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after waking up from an accidental nap to the random thought of how cute it would be if Eli accidentally fell asleep on Thrawn, sooo yeah! This happened.
> 
> (Disclaimer: all of the actual dialogue in the first section is quoted directly from Zahn's Thrawn (2017), I just switched the viewpoint and added the descriptions of what they were doing. I don't own the characters yadda yadda blah)


End file.
